Saturday 10/02/07 Metric, Kate Nash @ The Scala, London

Chalk, the Saturday entertainment inhabited mainly by lanky 18 year olds is becoming more and more popular. Irritating for those of us who’d like to swagger in after queuing for 2 minutes max but understandable. If a band need a cheap set for their club based video they could just film the lines of people sat in the corridors and stairs of this place. Actually, they should smear some more dirt on their faces because the crowd is more clean cut than it thinks.

Kate Nash is probably despairing at people mentioning Lily Allen close to her name. In fact Gigwise can state that those comparisons are not really fair. Kate is much more similar to Regina Spektor in her syncopated singing-in-short-half-spoken-words stylee. Gigwise tries to ignore his snobby companion’s comment that she “looks a bit Oxfam” or was that a compliment? She looks rather fine actually. Her gripes about herboyfriend (or herself?) with lines like “why are you being a dickhead” fit the pattern of matter-of-fact British artists that have emerged. Nash finishes the set with new single 'Caroline’s A Victim', a beginners guide to rap. Nash’s past as an actress helps get the crowd to wave to Caroline’s “killer, killer, killer beats”. Nash isn’t no victim, she’s nothing original but she’s more than likeable.

Next, down to Room 1, the main stage. It looks like a bare knuckle fighting arena and always makes Gigwise thinks he’s wandered into the Two Tribes video set via some time travel machine he didn’t notice on the stairs. A bit of Prodigy’s Out of Space helps loosen up the muscles in preparation for Metric. Oh shit, Kate Nash is stood behind and has just seen Gigwise dance - no more cool as a cucumber reviewer seeking a quote now. Metric saunter on stage and opening up with 'Empty', the opening track off their last album, 2005's 'Live it Out'. It’s a fucking superb track to open up a set as the shimmering opening descends violently into punk. About 6 minutes long and with Emily Haines looking absolutely filthy gorgeous, there is complete agreement as she belts out “no way out except together”. 

'Poster of A Girl’s ennui tinged story of a one night stand keeps the standard high. Live, Metric are similar to Queens of the Stone Age in being able to drive a song on and on…and on. Thank God they’ve dumped the synth swamping that turned their first full album 'Old World Underground, Where are You' into a bit of a bland mess. To finish, Metric assault us with what seems to be a ten minute long 'Monster Hospital'. They do epic pretty well. Not afraid to do the big soaring guitars, this snarling, serrated masterpiece with its lyrical centre of “I fought the war and the war won” ends with Haines resplendent in mini skirt being carried aloft by the crowd. Gigwise guesses most are having dirty thoughts. They’ve been bracketed as punk pop but Metric are much bigger than that. After a couple of support slots for the Rolling Stones, it’s time Metric leaped out into the world and made the impact their live performances demand.